Cisco Nexus 1000V Switch for Microsoft Hyper-V Data Sheet

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Cisco Nexus® 1000V Switches provide a comprehensive and extensible architectural platform for virtual machine and cloud networking. The switches are designed to accelerate server virtualization and multitenant cloud deployments in a secure and operationally transparent manner.

●The Cisco Nexus 1000V virtual Ethernet module (VEM) is a software component deployed on each Microsoft Hyper-V host as a forwarding extension. Each virtual machine on the host is connected to the VEM through virtual Ethernet (vEth) ports.

●The Cisco Nexus 1000V virtual supervisor module (VSM) is the management component that controls multiple VEMs and helps in the definition of virtual machine-focused network policies. It is a virtual machine running Cisco NX-OS on a Microsoft Hyper-V host and is similar to the supervisor module on a physical modular switch.

Cisco Nexus 1000V Switches reduce the operational complexities associated with virtual machine networking and thus help customers gain more of the benefits of server virtualization technology. They offer the following benefits:

◦The performance of virtual network services can be accelerated through enforcement in the hypervisor kernel.

Integration with Microsoft Hyper-V and SCVMM

The Cisco Nexus 1000V VEM is a forwarding extension in the Microsoft Hyper-V extensible switch framework, and it is deployed on each Microsoft Hyper-V host managed by the Cisco Nexus 1000V. The Cisco Nexus 1000V VSM communicates with VEMs as well as with Microsoft SCVMM. All configuration policies defined on the VSM are automatically propagated to Microsoft SCVMM, so the Microsoft SCVMM administrator can use these policies when creating virtual machines.

The Microsoft SCVMM networking model introduces multiple user-defined constructs, including logical networks, network sites, and virtual machine networks to abstract the underlying physical network. A new CLI has been added to the Cisco Nexus 1000V Switch to define these constructs from the VSM.

The Cisco Nexus 1000V includes Cisco integrated security features that are found on Cisco physical switches to prevent a variety of attack scenarios, as shown in Table 1. In addition, Cisco Virtual Security Gateway (VSG) a virtual firewall available on the Cisco Nexus 1000V, allows you to provide secure logical isolation of virtual machines in a multitenant Microsoft Hyper-V environment.

Table 1.Cisco Integrated Security Features

Feature

Capability

Prevents

Port security

●Restricts MAC addresses on a port

●MAC address spoofing by rogue virtual machine

IP source guard

●Maps IP addresses to MAC addresses

●IP and MAC address spoofing

Dynamic ARP Inspection

●Monitors virtual machine ARP transactions, which are also used for VMware vMotion

The Cisco Nexus 1000V is designed to be resilient, and high-availability is built into the system at multiple levels:

●Cisco NX-OS, the OS run by the VSM, is specifically designed for high availability at the network, system, and process levels. Critical processes run independently for ease of isolation, fault containment, and upgrading. Processes can restart independently in milliseconds without losing state information, affecting data forwarding, or affecting adjacent devices or services.

●VSMs are typically deployed in active-standby pairs for high availability. The state and configuration remain constantly synchronized between the two VSMs to provide stateful switchover if the active VSM fails.

VSM and VEM communication is built for reliability. In the event of loss of communication with the VSM, the VEMs can use nonstop forwarding (NSF) to continue to switch traffic according to the last-known configuration.

◦The VSM can be deployed as a virtual machine on Microsoft Windows Server 2012 with Hyper-V or on a Cisco Nexus 1110 appliance

◦Hard disk: 4 GB

◦RAM: 4 GB

●Compatible with any upstream physical switches, including all Cisco Nexus and Cisco Catalyst® switches as well as Ethernet switches from other vendors

Essential and Advanced Editions

Cisco Nexus 1000V Switches are offered in two editions:

●Essential Edition: Provides all the basic Layer 2 networking features needed for your Microsoft Hyper-V environments and is available at no cost; this free version enables you to adopt Cisco's virtual network technology without any cost or risk

Cisco Software Application Support plus Upgrades (SASU) is a comprehensive support service that helps you maintain and enhance the availability, security, and performance of your business-critical applications. Cisco SASU includes the following resources:

●Software updates and upgrades: The Cisco SASU service provides timely, uninterrupted access to software updates and upgrades to help you keep existing systems stable and network release levels current. Update releases, including major upgrade releases that may include significant architectural changes and new capabilities for your licensed feature set, are available by software download from Cisco.com or by CD-ROM shipment.

●Cisco Technical Assistance Center (TAC): Cisco TAC engineers provide accurate, rapid diagnosis and resolution of software application problems to help you reduce outages and performance degradation. These specialized software application experts are trained to support the Cisco Nexus 1000V Switch. Their expertise is available to you 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, by telephone, fax, email, or the Internet.

●Online support: Cisco SASU provides access to a wide range of online tools and communities to help you resolve problems quickly, support business continuity, and improve competitiveness.